Mark Zuckerberg Earns More Than $1B in Facebook Stock Sale

Facebook's initial public offering last week is now largely considered a dud, the victim of technical problems from Nasdaq and investor overhype.

One person who has made out very well financially from the the social network's stock market debut is its founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The hoodie aficionado netted over $1 billion after cashing in 30.2 million shares, according to a public filing. The stock sold for $37.58 a share, slightly less than Facebook's $38 IPO price.

Still it is better than the $34 the Menlo Park, Calif. based company's shares were trading for as markets closed on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for Facebook declined to comment.

Zuckerberg, who wed his longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan last weekend, won't use the money to pay the caterer. The Facebook chief will use the bulk of the proceeds to pay sale taxes stemming from the IPO and the exercise of his stock options, according to filings.

It has been a bruising period for the newly minted public company, which has been criticized for its overly optimistic earnings forecasts and for not being more conservative with its IPO pricing.

Felix Salmon, in a blistering opinion piece on Reuters, slammed Zuckerberg's handling of the public offering, writing, "Zuckerberg’s refusal to play the Wall Street game is admirable, in some respects — but at the same time is completely inconsistent with a desire to sell $16 billion of shares at a $104 billion valuation."

But public criticism and big paydays aren't the only thing shaking at the social network. In the wake of technical difficulties that delayed trading of Facebook for nearly a half hour after it was scheduled to make its public debut last week, the company is considering moving its listing to the New York Stock Exchange, according to a report on CNBC.